Public Defender Lawsuit Still Active

More Staff Wouldn't Solve All The Problems, Cclu Director Says

April 10, 1998|By LYNNE TUOHY; Courant Staff Writer

Rumors of a settlement in the 3- year-old class action lawsuit against the state's public defender system are rampant, and false.

The rumor, which has been circulating in the committee rooms of the Capitol and rolling off the tongues of prominent prosecutors, has its roots in a budget report issued three weeks ago by the Office of Policy and Management.

In the report, OPM Deputy Secretary Marc S. Ryan recommends to the co-chairmen of the legislature's appropriations committee -- Sen. Joseph J. Crisco Jr. and Rep. William R. Dyson -- that 52 positions be added to the public defenders' staff over the next three years.

The recommendation is joined by the Attorney General's office, which is representing Gov. John G. Rowland and the Office of the Chief Public Defender in the lawsuit filed in January 1995 by the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union.

The lawsuit alleges that the state's public defenders are so overburdened by the thousand or more cases they average each year that they cannot provide adequate representation in criminal cases. The CCLU contends that defendants' constitutional right to counsel is being undermined by the assembly- line justice that results.

OPM recommends adding 52 people to the public defenders' offices statewide, with 19.5 positions added in the 1998-99 fiscal year. The cost for the first year of the staffing increase would be $1.6 million, and 15.5 of of those new positions---- would be assigned to eight juvenile courts.

Joseph Grabarz, executive director of the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union, said he would like to see the ranks of public defenders swell, but does not believe the budget recommendation will in any way derail the lawsuit.

``The public defender's office does need more staff, and staffing is part of the problem, but not all of it,'' Grabarz said Thursday. ``The lawsuit is still on track, and we still anticipate bringing this case to conclusion in court.''

No trial date has been assigned in the case, and Grabarz said he expects little to happen in the case before fall.

Chief Public Defender Gerard Smyth Thursday declined to comment on what effect, if any, the OPM staffing proposal might have on the lawsuit. Although he stands to gain staff if the CCLU prevails, Smyth has maintained he prefers to do that through normal legislative channels rather than in a courtroom battle over his staff's job performance.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, public defenders represented clients in 76 percent of all serious felony cases in Connecticut courts, and 47 percent of the misdemeanors and less serious felonies. Smyth supervises about 150 lawyers working in 33 offices statewide.